Let'sGoZips94

Potter, Cooper, Craft in the Portal for Miami OH. So much for unfinished business. Anquan Boldin Jr in the Portal for Canada.

Ben Nicol & Elmore James portaling for Ohio. Also, according to Bobcat Attack, Mekhi Cooper of Fiami will be portaling.

Wow - I had no idea. I wonder how many more years that will last if they're mainly covering costs for mid majors. Damn, that was the one silver lining for me with their NIT bid/run.

I wonder if Sendy is trying to use this tourney to drum up some NIL/donor support. For being a poverty program (based on his crying about Akron's NIL), they sure are ok with shelling out tons of money for this travel. They head to Chicago next to face Loyola Chicago, who spared Kent from going back out to California by beating San Francisco.

I saw it a year or two ago with another conference (Horizon maybe?). It's rare, it's odd, but it has happened before if I'm not mistaken.

And coming in.

Kent is losing everyone to graduation. While we don't know if they'll lose any additional players to the portal yet (Go Stanford), they'll already have one helluva uphill climb to retool.

Zips will be playing in the Paradise Jam next season.

Yup. And Mahaffey just made it official on IG - he's back.

Apparently Mahaffey is back as well. Only one we haven't heard from is Harris, but there has been speculation he won't be back. Everyone else that is eligible is staying. Unbelievable. Keep an eye on the Portal tomorrow for a commitment based on Ford's tweet.

Whole team. So far everyone except Mahaffey, Harris, and Hardman have tweeted, but I'm 99% sure Hardman will be back.

Whole team is back.

We may have our first portal commitment coming.

They don't say basketball, but here are 2 nicer blue polos with the Akron logo. https://www.rallyhouse.com/Nike-Akron-Zips-Mens-Navy-Blue-DriFIT-Victory-Stripe-Short-Sleeve-Polo-19867348?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4v6-BhDuARIsALprm31jtmBfBV9Ttpt9xRHayTc2xVMNh6RY_sQ8uL9LEW0jhvvZe8VU8msaApOUEALw_wcB&variant_id=4363428 https://www.fanatics.com/college/akron-zips/polos/akron-zips-antigua-reprocess-polo-navy/o-38+t-67797733+d-86665651+f-5738913898+z-9-4221730519?utm_medium=cse&_s=GPA_CA&sku=207626555&targetid=targetid&utm_campaign=21215721552_161618398979&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4v6-BhDuARIsALprm30wUhKkQuh-8bpskTQNO7rPl_vo-MGu5L1Fg8I6smi41MDooVbRXbgaAtj-EALw_wcB

Good for him for cashing in on those 15 minutes, though. With that being said, the tendency for this younger generation to find a new word in the dictionary and use it to label everything is annoying. "Blessed" "Aura" etc. Puke. In a lighter note, we're witnessing the death of March Madness this year. Minimal upsets and potentially zero mid majors in the Sweet Sixteen. Congrats, greedy suits.

This is brilliant. Our church does something like this for their missions goals, although not quite to this extent. It's a lot easier to spend money when you know what you're spending it on. I would also like to add that they desperately need to find some sort of clothing supplier that will provide much cheaper attire options without sacrificing too much aesthetically. @Zippy87 is right about the jerseys and vest. At that price point, they target a very niche group of supporters, and probably people that already give a lot to the university/program. They need to find a way to offer Joe Akron desirable attire/gear at an affordable price point.

Did you see the interview with Wade where he said his recruiting pitch prior to the season was that a P4 job next year was the goal and the players can come with him? Scumbag. Glad we have Groce & Wentz. Now let's go get those final pieces to break the glass ceiling.

Sounds like Freeman.

Schedule The schedule this year featured 4 NCAA tourney teams - Yale, Saint Mary's, Omaha, Alabama State. 4 other teams were top finishers in their conferences/conf tournaments. Alabama State gave Auburn a run for their money. Yale gave Texas A&M a run. Did Auburn & Texas A&M not schedule tough enough opponents in the regular season? The games are played for a reason - results vary day to day and sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. When Harris got hurt, we lost our stretch 3. I don't know if he helps you in the paint, but at 6'8" with 3P capabilities, he would've helped you vs longer, more athletic teams. I would love to see a lower tier P4 or 2 on the schedule not for the experience against potentially more athletic/talented teams, but to win one or 2 so this program under Groce gets the confidence that they have, not that they "can". Groce has been close vs a couple P4s, but hasn't gotten over the hump at Akron. Need to break through that glass ceiling. Roster Unless there's a drastic shift in the team's mindset, the entire core (except those who are graduating) should be returning. That means another year of development for guys like Okonkwo, Lyles, Hardman, etc. Sounds like we will most likely be bringing in a more P4 big man, which will allow Amani to move into more of the stretch 3/4 role. We'll have a plethora of guards, although I would like to see them bring in someone with the Tyler Cheese build/skill set. Nate is more of a 2/3 than he is a 1/2, so having someone that can increase the size of our backcourt while also being able to handle the backcourt duties would be nice. Otherwise, this roster is fantastic, they just need to keep improving and focus on executing when it matters. Misc. Something that hasn't really been talked about is Dustin Ford. Wentz made the comment during one of his podcast appearances that Ford will most likely be highly sought after as a HC. I really hope we don't lose him.

Arizona was a pretty poor shooting team and one of the worst 3P defensive teams in the country. Tonight, they were superb. Not sure many teams in the country would've beaten them, let alone Akron with how poorly we shot the ball. Nevertheless, great season. Here's to hoping the boys decide to run it back, we add the missing pieces, 3-peat, and finally break through next year.

They're atrocious.

This feels like the biggest game in program history.